Although the media and fans didn't initially know that Zhou Yi's position had moved back to become a defensive midfielder.

Klopp could keep things secret in training.

But he couldn't keep all the warm-up matches completely closed, could he?

Some less important warm-up matches, such as those against local lower-league teams, could be closed to the public.

But it was impossible to prevent fans from entering some slightly more formal warm-up matches.

Some pre-season warm-up matches are even broadcast on television.

So, Zhou Yi playing as a defensive midfielder couldn't be concealed in the end. Klopp couldn't continue to let Zhou Yi play as an attacking midfielder in the games, otherwise the warm-up matches would lose their meaning.

The purpose of pre-season warm-up matches is to allow the team to use actual combat to test what they have practiced in training.

Zhou Yi is performing very well in training now, but after all, that is training, and there is a big difference between training and actual combat.

Although warm-up matches cannot be compared with real league games, they are at least more practical than training.

So, in the pre-season warm-up matches, Zhou Yi appeared in the defensive midfielder position.

In the first publicly open warm-up match, everyone discovered that Zhou Yi's position had changed.

Not attacking midfielder, but defensive midfielder.

This was very obvious from the formation at kick-off.

Zhou Yi and Sven Bender stood on the same line, in front of the defense line.

This discovery surprised the Chinese reporters. They didn't expect Zhou Yi's position to move back. Was this a concession made because of Shinji Kagawa's arrival?

The Japanese reporters in the press box were very excited when they discovered this – did this mean that Kagawa had a chance?

However, as the game progressed, the Japanese reporters' excitement gradually cooled and disappeared.

Judging from the game, the core of the team was still Zhou Yi. Although Kagawa started, he could not replace Zhou Yi.

The somewhat anxious hearts of the Chinese reporters gradually calmed down.

They found that Zhou Yi also performed very well in the defensive midfielder position, and there were no signs of discomfort. Moreover, his range of activity was very large, and he was not fixed in the backfield. He actively moved forward to participate in the attack, and sometimes even encroached on the position of the attacking players in the frontcourt.

This shows that Zhou Yi is still the leader of this team, and he controls the offensive and defensive rhythm on the field.

Although he is far away from the goal, his organizational tasks have not been weakened.

Because what they saw was Zhou Yi who could… make long passes!

Although they didn't know when Zhou Yi learned it, at least he was indeed using long passes.

And from the actual effect, the accuracy was not too bad.

※※※

Zhou Yi's performance in the warm-up matches gave the Chinese reporters and fans a reassurance, and also made the Japanese reporters understand that what Shinji Kagawa said was indeed the truth.

In one game after another, although Zhou Yi did not play the entire match—no one can play the entire warm-up match—the qualities Zhou Yi showed greatly shocked the Japanese reporters.

All along, Japanese reporters have believed that Japanese football is the strongest in Asia, especially in midfield, where they have continuously produced many European-level players.

Hidetoshi Nakata, who became famous the earliest, was also the most successful.

Later, there were Shunsuke Nakamura, Makoto Hasebe, etc.

In terms of midfield, Japanese football has always been very strong. What they lacked in the past was forwards.

At that time, there was a widely circulated view among Chinese fans, that the Chinese team did not lack excellent forwards. Yang Chen, Hao Hai Dong, Song Maozhen, Li Bing, and Li Jinyu were all very good forwards. The Japanese national team had a good midfield, but no forwards who could score goals.

Now, Japan's forwards have caught up and surpassed China, and Japan's midfield is still a traditional advantage.

But now, they feel that in the midfield position, in addition to Park Ji-sung of South Korea, China also has another Zhou Yi…

As the German media said, the shortcomings they observed in Zhou Yi were very prominent, but his strengths were even more prominent.

And his shortcomings are concentrated in physical and technical aspects, but these can be improved through practice, and will always get better slowly.

Zhou Yi's strength lies in his excellent vision and football awareness.

Japanese football reporters are all knowledgeable people, and they can see at a glance that this is the quality that determines a player's talent ceiling.

Even if they are unwilling, they have to admit that in this respect, Zhou Yi is better than Shinji Kagawa.

Of course, Shinji Kagawa and Zhou Yi's playing styles are not the same, and there is no direct comparability.

But if he wants to be the core of Dortmund, Shinji Kagawa is probably difficult to compete with Zhou Yi.

So, after a few warm-up matches, the Chinese reporters discovered a new situation. That is, when they met Japanese reporters outside Dortmund's training base, the other party would take the initiative to mention Zhou Yi, and then give a thumbs up: "Zhou-san, Subarashii!!"

These words made the Chinese reporters feel as if they had drunk a bottle of ice-cold beer in the middle of summer, refreshing from the inside out.

Everyone knows that Japanese people admire the strong, and their willingness to praise Zhou Yi so much is naturally because they have been conquered by Zhou Yi's performance.

This simply greatly satisfied the national self-esteem and vanity of the Chinese reporters.

In the past two decades, in the field of football, China has needed to look up to Japan. The Japanese's eyes are no longer even on Asia, but on Europe. It was once rumored that the Japanese Football Association was brewing to withdraw from the Asian Football Confederation and apply to join UEFA to participate in European competitions, so as to improve their level…

So, it is not easy for Chinese football to get praise from Japanese football.

But now such a thing has happened.

Because Zhou Yi performed well, these Chinese reporters also had a sense of "shared glory".

※※※

On August 10th, after finishing their training camp in Austria, the entire Dortmund team returned to Germany and began to prepare for the new season of the Bundesliga.

The first round of the Bundesliga will kick off on August 20th. The opening match will be between last season's league champion Bayern Munich hosting Wolfsburg.

Dortmund's game is the last game of the first round, hosting Leverkusen at home.

After returning to Germany, Zhou Yi received the first personal award of his career at the Brackel Training Base – the Bundesliga Best Newcomer Award for last season.

When Chinese reporters looked at Zhou Yi through the camera, they found that Zhou Yi in the lens was holding the trophy, grinning, and the sun was shining on his face and the trophy. His cheeks and the trophy shone together in the sun.

Zhou Yi's award for Best Newcomer also caused a wave of discussion in China.

In fact, everyone was not surprised that Zhou Yi won this award, because everyone saw Zhou Yi's performance in the team last season. You know, after only playing twenty-one league games, he won the assist king of last season with fourteen assists!

With such results, let alone the best newcomer, he is qualified to compete for the best player or the best foreign player.

Therefore, Zhou Yi's award for Best Newcomer is well deserved, and it can be said that there are no comparable competitors.

However, Zhou Yi's award still greatly satisfied the vanity of domestic fans.

This is still the highest honor personal award that Chinese players have won while playing abroad.

In the context of Chinese football's downturn, Zhou Yi is like a shot in the arm, causing the hearts of many Chinese fans that had died to beat again.

Now everyone will no longer worry about whether Zhou Yi can stay in the first team like they did a season ago.

Whether Zhou Yi can secure the core position of the team is what they are considering.

Judging from the pre-season warm-up matches, Zhou Yi's performance in the new position is also okay, and he should be the core of Dortmund in the new season.

After becoming the core of Dortmund, how far Zhou Yi can lead this team is probably what everyone cares more about.

※※※

Chinese fans and reporters are concerned about Zhou Yi's future in Dortmund, while Zhou Yi himself is concerned about Mark's future.

Judging from the pre-season warm-up matches, Mark initially seemed a little unaccustomed, but he is improving little by little. By the last two warm-up matches, he was able to perform very well, and he also scored beautiful goals, and more than one.

Mark's performance has also attracted the attention of the media and some Dortmund fans.

After a whole summer of training, Mark looks like he is no longer the fledgling who was just transferred to the first team.

Zhou Yi believes that Mark will definitely be able to stay in the first team in the end!

Of course, staying in the first team is only the first step of a long march, and you have to continue to work hard to be able to play.

But if you can't even stay in the first team, don't even think about playing for the first team.

Zhou Yi is still very happy with Mark's progress and performance.

You know, Mark's goals in the first team's warm-up matches were not assisted by himself, because he and Mark have not played together in the warm-up matches. When he is on the field, Mark is a substitute, and Mark only comes on the field after he is substituted.

So, the two have not cooperated.

But precisely because of this, Mark's goals in the warm-up matches are valuable, because that shows Mark's true level.